Starwood site sold in foreclosure sale

The 65-acre former Starwood Amphitheater site was sold in a recent foreclosure sale for $5.5 million, according to Davidson County property records.

California-based Orange Murfreesboro LLC, which held the loan, bought the property.

Mack McClung, a principal with Vastland Cos., bought the property with a partner in 2007 for $4.2 million. Vastland initially planned to develop Starwood Commons, a $100 million retail and residential development. That project never got off the ground, however, and Vastland later pushed the property as a potential data center site.

In a news release, Vastland said it purchased the property in 2007 in partnership with Wayne Wise of Western Express. According to a news release, Wise was "sole guarantor of the note and neither Vastland nor its principals had any financial exposure related to the financing of the property."

The following are excerpts from Vastland's statement:

Mr. Wise died in July 2010. Shortly afterwards, Tennessee Commerce Bank, which held the note, was taken over by the FDIC. Vastland was unable to negotiate satisfactory terms for assuming the loan from federal regulators and it was sold to a California investment firm. Rather than taking over payments on that loan at a much higher price, Vastland simply gave up its interest in Starwood through a friendly foreclosure that allows California-based Orange Murfreesboro LLC to own the property.

It is important to reiterate that Vastland, its affiliated companies, its principals and investors did not have any financial exposure or indebtedness in this deal.